May 16, 2016

The Energy Bill is to become law without changes to the
government’s grace period criteria for wind farms affected by the early closure
of the Renewables Obligation.

Labour’s energy spokesman Lord Grantchester last night
withdrew an amendment that would have resulted in an extra 66.3MW capacity from
four Scottish wind farms on top of the government-backed grace period wind
farms.

The withdrawal brought to an end a month-long game of ping
pong between the Commons and the Lords.

With Parliament set to be prorogued tomorrow, the Energy
Bill is expected to gain Royal Assent ahead of the state opening of Parliament
on 18 May.

Lord Grantchester’s amendment made provision to widen the
grace period until 31 March 2017 for wind farms where the relevant planning
authority had resolved to grant planning permission by 18 June 2015 and had
issued legal agreements by 18 September.

Speaking in the Lords, Lord Grantchester said: “By turning
this down, the Conservative government are following an ideological
belligerence against onshore wind farms that enjoy local support and offer
value for money, while simultaneously defending generous handouts to fund more
expensive alternatives.”

Defending the Bill, energy minister Lord Bourne said: “The
policy as set out by the Government strikes a fair balance between the public
interest, including protecting consumer bills and ensuring an appropriate
energy mix, and the interests of onshore wind developers."

RenewableUK chief executive Hugh McNeal said: “With the
pain of the Energy Bill finally behind us, we need to look forward and find
sensible ways to take advantage of wind power to ensure consumers’ electricity
bills are as low as possible.”

"The overall cost of onshore wind is continuing to
fall, with new onshore wind cheaper than new gas - even at a time of low gas
prices. This shift has also been reported by Policy Exchange, Bright Blue and
the Committee on Climate Change, which all confirm the low cost of onshore
wind."